November 24, 2009

They did put this big pile of snow here for us, right?


The ski lifts open tomorrow.

October 19, 2009

I've been thinking about what all the different kids bring to our class lately. They are all so individual and unique and yet come together to make such a wonderful whole.

Grant is our own first responder. Whenever anyone gets into trouble or stuck he is there. And so sweet with the littlest.

Bella is so focused and determined but it doesn't keep her from being kind and thoughtful.

Luke who won't give anything but the best in everything he does, and loves to compete, but never fails to be a good sport.

Chris who keeps track of us all. If something is lost I know who to ask. He always seems to know what is going on around him.

Alex, the fiercest competator of all. It doesn't matter what it is, he wants to be best. Just today he wanted to know how tall everyone else was and how tall he was in comparrison.

Georgie who has many things where she is top in the class, but what I really admire about her is that she keeps working and trying at those things which are not her strengths. When you are that gifted it would be easy to rest on your talents, but instead she pushes herself in all things.

Lucas has added a new dimension to our class, he's smart and talented and has become a best friend.

Allanna is the glue that keeps us all together. She always recognizes the feelings of others and is the one we all turn to when we need someone to treat us softly.

Jeremy is our busy and happy little third grader. If you ever need cheering up he is the man, He will make you feel like life is good.

And then our littlest kindergartner, Landon. So bright and cute and really makes everyone smile at least once a day.

All individuals for sure, but a community as well.

Everything you want to know about the number 28!

by Georgina Chandler.

Critters

Whitney brought scrap wood, her drill, some glue and paint and let the kids make critters. You can tell by how intently the kids are working that they loved this project. Thanks to Whitney and to ACE who brought another great art project to school!

First Snow!!!

DANCING

ACE provided the funding for a dance teacher this year. Her name is Jenna. Jenna's first visit was last Thursday. It was so fun to see the kids so uninhibited. I knew that they were not just learning about dance and rhythm but about taking risks, trusting each other and being trustworthy.

The Annual Camping Trip

This year the new school district is emphasizing evidence based practices. In other words we need to choose what we teach and how we teach based on research that informs us about what works rather than doing what has always been done. I welcome this change. There has been so much research done and ignored in education and it can be very frustrating.

Sometimes though, we have to do something without evidence. I cannot quantify the benefits that come from our annual camping trip, but I know that when the kids feel a sense of community and connectedness with the school, they try harder. I know that when they know that their parents and the parents of their friends are friendly, they are kinder to each other and feel safer together. And I know that when they connect learning with nature their minds open in ways that they cannot in a classroom.

Thanks to all of you who made the effort to be there, even in the rain. (A special wet welcome to the Briggs.) And thank you again Pam for all the work you put into getting the trip organized.

ART

MATH

READING

Busy, Busy, Busy

As I was cleaning the board last night and even I had to laugh. There was the formula for finding the volume of a sphere, the linear equation and a graph, the long o spelling patterns, roman numerals, a student generated list for camping, the formula for finding your maximum heart rate, and "Van Gogh genius or crazy", all written. Thank goodness I have a lot of help, I don't think I could keep all of that in my head.

They are always learning something

I took the opportunity today to talk to the kids about the recent incidents of disrespect that have been in the news lately; at the VMA awards, on the tennis court and in the House of Representatives. The kids understood and were shocked by the appalling bad manners of people whom they think of adults. They were able to understand how disrespectful that type of behavior is and how the tennis star, the rap star and the congressman were the ones who looked bad. We talked about some of their choices and how they treat their friends, classmates and parents. I hope the shock they felt at the behavior of these "role models" influences them. I hope the lesson they learned this week was to behave better than those adults that were in the news this week.

September 4, 2009

Looking foreward

I took my niece to college this weekend. There have been some of my friends who say she is a lot like me, but only because I have had a 30 year head start on her. She will pass me soon. She is so full of confidence and excitement right now. I just loved it when she said, "I am so wierd, my roommates are going to love me!"

It was fun to be the one that got to experience her excitement at this point in her life. I have a friend that says we don't usually recognize the turning points in our life when they happen. I remember the day I got dropped off at college. Although I remember it clearly, that day was not a turning point, but the next few months were. Some of the change came from the things I learned in the classroom, but most came from learning about myself when I broke my leg, or decided at the last minute to drive to Mexico, or decided that clearing brush at the ski area was a good way to earn a season pass. It was those things that helped me recognize myself.

Good luck Tevi, and like I tell the kids in my class, Work Hard, Play Hard, Be Kind and Have Fun.

The new kindergartner is going to fit right in. When all the rest of us were playing duck, duck, goose today, he was playing pumpkin, pumpkin, scorpion.

Kindergarten started today. Kindergartners alway scare me just a little. It's their first day of school, and they will always remember it. They just know so little and sometimes being their teacher can seem like an overwhelming task . But they are so cute and they will hold your hand.

Art

Sometimes it is easy to miss how much the kids are growing when you see them everyday and the changes from day to day are small and sometimes even seem to go backwards. We worked on an art lesson for the past two days and it surprised me to find that that is where they are showing signs of growing up. Allanna is suddenly drawing what she sees. Small children use symbols to represent things in their art, a yellow circle with long and short lines for a sun, a green strait line with a red circle on top for a flower and a stick person that is the same size as the flower, tree and house. But for the past two days Allanna has worked really hard on a white flower. She put in shadow and shading on the petals and left out the sun at the top of the page. She is growing up and so are all the others, and this past week, after not seeing them for a couple of months I have noticed.

First day 7th time

First day of school. New student. Old students with a new attitude. They have grown. They are confident and kind and cute and cocky. They are full of business one minute, focused and ready to face new challenges , silly and smart aleck the next.

I remind myself everyday that you have trusted me with the most valuable thing you have. I continually ask myself, "What am I really teaching them?"

When I do something for them am I telling them that they cannot do it themselves.

If I tell them "good job" when both they and I know it is not their best, am I telling them it's o.k. to be lazy.

If I forget to tell them they have done well am I telling them that what they have done is not important.

If I don't listen to them am I telling them that they aren't important.

If I let them interrupt am I telling them that other people are not important.

Every decision to do something or not to do something can seem so important, but what I really need to do today is relax and enjoy the kids, because they make me laugh everyday. And I need to remember last year when I asked Jeremy what his favorite subject was, he started with reading and didn't stop until he had named every single thing we do.

7 year niche

The start of year 7.

When you first meet someone the purpose of casual conversation is not just to find something that you have in common, but to find something to keep the conversation going. No one likes silence with a stranger.

First there's that oh so American question, "What do you do?"

"I'm a teacher."

"What grade do you teach?"

O.K. here we go, "Well I teach K-8 in a one room school up at the ski town of Alta, Utah."

"Really, How does that work?" and the conversation is off the ground.

It seems like eventually I get around to saying, "Yea, I'm the only teacher for all those grades, in fact it's only me, I'm the teacher, the school nurse, the lunch lady and sometimes even the bus driver. It's just me."

But what I have really come to appreciate over the past 6 years is that it is not just me. I teach in a community that supports the school and the children of the community in so many ways. If someone smashes finger the ski patrol will tape it up. If it is more serious the clinic helps out. The local community organizations donate time and money to our art program. Local individuals provided the funding for a computer lab. People with and without kids volunteer time everyday to help with reading, math, writing, art, music, yoga and our ski program. All the local businesses contribute financially and more than that everyone keeps an eye out. So while it is true that I am the only official teacher in this school, the entire community is contributing to these students' lives.

So as my 7th year here at Alta and the 7th year for the school begins I would be ungrateful if I were not to say thank you to everyone who has made the Alta School such a big part of the Alta community. I think maybe I have finally found my niche.